Precast concrete panels and integral lifting anchors are widely used in the construction industry. Traditional concrete structures are formed in place and on site, whereas precast concrete panels are poured and cured off site in a modern manufacturing facility before being transported to the building site. Precast concrete panels allow for better quality control and cheaper costs since precast forms can be reused hundreds or thousands of times. The popularity of precast concrete panels has translated into a greater variety of types and styles of panels.
One particular variation of precast concrete panel is an insulated precast concrete panel. Typically, this type of precast concrete panel has an inner precast concrete layer, or wythe, and an outer precast concrete layer with an insulating layer positioned therebetween. Like traditional precast concrete panels, an insulated precast concrete panel must be positioned in place at the building site. In prior art devices, a lifting member such as a steel anchor is interconnected to both precast concrete layers and spans the insulated gap between the layers. After the insulated precast concrete panel is placed in the desired position, the lifting member is typically retained in place since it is embedded in the hardened concrete. However, steel and other metals used to form lifting members are thermally inefficient since they readily transfer heat, and therefore, a thermal bridge is created through the insulation layer, which reduces the thermal effectiveness of the insulation layer and the insulated precast concrete panel.
Prior art devices do not adequately address the thermal bridge problem described above. Examples of prior art devices may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,857,296; 8,806,811; 6,761,007; and 8,959,847, which are incorporated herein in their entireties by reference. These references describe devices that provide the lifting function for precast concrete panels, or even alternative materials to help mitigate the thermal bridge issue, but none of the prior art references adequately address the problems described above.